"the rachel maddow show" starts right now. good evening, rachel. >> good evening, ed. that was a tremendous closing story. great interview, man. thank you. thank you to those of you at home for joining us for this hour. after what has been honestly an amazing day of news. it was 3:342 eastern this afternoon when nbc news, network news broke into regular programming with an exclusive special report. watch. ♪ >> this is an nbc news special report. here's brian williams. >> good day. we're coming on the air right now to break exclusive word that the united states ambassador to the united nations, ambassador susan rice, has transmitted word to the president of the united states that she is withdrawing her own name from any future consideration for nomination to become perhaps the next secretary of state following hillary rodham clinton. >> that was the news broken today by nbc at 3:40 in the afternoon. susan rice remains the u.s. ambassador to the united nations. and a high-profile one at that. she's known for being very close to president obama, a long-time friend and a